


The Gold Motel: Belle's Session

by mrgoldsdearie



Series: The Gold Motel [14]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-12
Updated: 2016-03-12
Packaged: 2018-05-26 07:25:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6229129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mrgoldsdearie/pseuds/mrgoldsdearie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rumebelle AU inspired by the movie Psycho - Norman and Robert discuss Robert’s involvement in the food fight and their relationship with Belle. Belle attends her first therapy session with Dr. Hopper.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Gold Motel: Belle's Session

**Author's Note:**

> Some of you might know that I couldn’t help but write this chapter after the premier of Bates Motel on Monday. It wasn't even next on my writing list, but here is it. I loved the way is came out and I hope you do too. I think this is the shortest chapter in the series, but I think it’s also an important chapter. Please feel free to let me know what you think. Happy reading.

Saturday afternoon, Belle is in her bedroom changing Baelee out of her sky blue crocodile pajamas and into the yellow flower dress that Norman adores. She prepares their daughter for another visit to see her father at the hospital.

Baelee, with out warning, kicks the shoes off of her feet and they tumble to the floor.

“You little critter,” Belle coos, tickling her daughter's tummy. “I see you're trying to really make me work today.” She picks up the shoes and puts them back on the child's tiny feet.

Baelee squirms as her mother wrestles with the shoes. She rather not wear the heavy stompers. She can move around quicker without them.

After securing the shoe straps, Belle stands the baby up on the bed to check how she looks in the outfit. “Daddy's gonna think you're the prettiest thing.” She kisses the baby girl’s cherub like cheeks. “Even Robert won't help but notice how adorable you are.” Straightens the gold bow on the Baelee’s head. Then takes a instant to think about their possible future.

With Norman’s decision of coexistence, Robert Gold will be a permanent part of Belle and Baelee’s lives.

“I guess you'll be calling him pop-pop,” she shrugs, nonchalant. “I don't know where he came up with that, but it's cute. Don't you think?”

The baby girl bounces on the bed as her mother helps to keep her balanced. She loves when Belle talks to her.

“I don't know where he came up with nugget either,” she tells her daughter. “Nugget… Ha!”

Belle’s ticked every time she hears him call the baby nugget. It's the most random nickname she's ever heard.  

“I guess I'll be his _sweetheart_ and Norman’s _dearie_. But they both call me _my love_.” Which, at first, she saw as kinda odd. “I think that makes sense though. Since, you know, they are the same person.”

Baelee reaches for her mother's hair with both hands.

“No, no, Bae.” She leans back, getting her curls out of the child's reach. “You can pull daddy’s and pop-pop's hair. Not mommy’s.”

Baelee reached for her chestnut locks again.

“Oh, goodness, Bae.” She rests the child down on the bed and opens the nightstand drawer, rambling for something to tie her hair back. “You have such a fascination. I guess you get that from your daddy.” She finds a rose hair clip and securely pulls her long threads out of the baby’s reach. “That man will let you do anything to him.” Picks up the baby and stands from the bed. “Come on. Let's go get your bag ready.”

As they exit the bedroom, the phone starts to ring.

Belle backtracks to the nightstand and answers, “Hello?”

“Hello, ma'am,” a woman's voice says on the line. “Am I speaking to Mrs. Gold?”

“Yes, you are.”

“This is Eleanor Ratched the head nurse at the Storybrooke Mental Hospital.”

Belle’s heart rate spontaneously increases when the nurse introduces herself. A call from the hospital, that didn't come from Norman, was the last thing she expected today.

“Oh… H-hello,” she answers, tense, feeling as if she's punched in the gut. “Is my husband alright? I was just on my way to see him. He's alright, isn't he?”

A thousand scenarios flash in Belle’s mind of what could have happened to Norman and Robert. None of them have a positive outcome.

“Your husband is safely secure in his room, Mrs. Gold,” Nurse Ratched answers. “You have nothing to worry about with his physical well being.”

“Thank goodness,” she sighs in relief. “Wait… What do you mean by he's secure in his room?”

“That is the nature of my call. The facility is currently into it’s final hours of lockdown.”

“Lockdown!?”, she shrieks.

“Yes, ma'am, but all patients will be released in an hour or so.”

“Why is the hospital in lockdown?”, she asks more calmly.

“There was a ruckus last night at dinner, a food fight, and your husband has been pointed out as being one of the ringleaders of the event.”

“What!?”

“Yes, ma'am.”

“My husband would never do something like that. He's there to get help.”

After spitting out this sentence, Belle realizes it isn't Norman the nurse is speaking of.

“Oh, shit,” she grumbles. “Please excuse my language, but shit!”

“It's alright, Mrs. Gold. You're not saying anything I don't hear on a daily basis.”

“I'm so sorry for any inconvenience Robert Gold has caused. You see, Robert is my husband’s, Norman’s, alter ego. And he's a bit more reckless than Norman is.”

“I understand your husband's diagnosis. I assure you, he isn't my first D.I.D patient.”

“Okay… Well… I'm on my way to see him right now and I will talk to him about this.”

“There's another matter on why I'm calling,” the nurse directly adds.

“What is it?”

“I've taken up the task of getting in contact with all the families that have a scheduled visit today.”  

“Okay?”

“It's standard procedure to cancel all visits after a lockdown. It's to insure the visitors safely.”

Belle blinks, completely bewildered. Cancellation of family visits makes no sense. “Are you sure it's only for the safety of the visitors," Belle questions, miffed. "You don't have another reason for restricting the visits?”

She's furious about having the visit with her husband canceled over a merger food fight. The patients most likely needed a little harmless fun.

“Because to me, that sounds like a punishment to the patients.” She doesn't give the nurse time to get a word in edgewise. “You know those people are ill, don't you? They're not criminals and they shouldn’t be treated like they’re in prison. Taking them away from their families is the worst thing you can possibly do to them. I think it's extreme. It's a little too extreme for only tossing around a bit of food.”  

“Mrs. Gold, I don't make the rules. I just enforce them.”

“I'm sure you do,” she says irked.

“I can reschedule your visit for next Saturday, if you like.”

“Of course I want to reschedule. And you can go ahead and put be down for a visit on every Friday and Saturday. I promised my husband that I would never miss a visiting day and I don't plan to miss anymore.”

“I'll be sure to pen you in for every Friday and Saturday.”

“Thank you. Goodbye,” she immediately hangs up the phone. “Ugh!”, she groans, kicking off her shoes.

All her preparations were for nothing.

“We’re not seeing daddy today,” she bounces Baelee on her hip. “Pop-pop took a page out of your book and started a food fight.” She takes off the baby’s shoes and swoops up the dirty baby clothes from the bed. “Let's get you out of this dress.”

##  **\-----**

Behind the locked door of room one-eighty-seven, Norman Gold sits on the bed. He stares at the somber grey wall, tapping the tip of Robert's cane on the floor.

_Tap… Tap… Tap… Tap…_

He keeps a slow and steady rhythm.

“Is there anyway you can stop that soon?”, Jefferson asks, covering his ears with a pillow. But the echo of tapping still bleeds through the fluffy cotton.

Jefferson has been trapped with the tapping ever since Norman learned that there were no family visits today. “It's driving me mad!”

Norman stops for a moment. “Odd choice of words,” says without a stammer and continues the tapping.

“Please, Norman, I understand you're upset.” He stands in his bed and hops over to Norman’s bed, crouching next to him. “But the infernal tapping has to stop!”

Norman leers at Jefferson. “Get off of my bed.”

“I'm sorry.” He gradually steps down and backs away. “I thought we were friends.” Sits on the edge of his own bed. “You're not the other you, are you?” He leans forward, staring into Norman's eyes. “Mel said that the other part of you has fire flowing through his veins, but I can see that you have that same fire too. It just shows in your eyes instead. You don't exert it like he does. You keep it all inside.” He scoots back against the wall. “That can be dangerous.”

“I'm not dangerous,” Norman hisses. “I've never hurt anyone in my life.”

Jefferson pulls the blanket over his legs. “You probably don't know,” he whispers.

Norman taps the cane several more times, ignoring what Jefferson has said. His mind is stuck on not seeing his beloved family. He can’t get over the fact that they're not coming.

“This is all your fault,” Norman mumbles to himself. “If I could punch you right now, I would.”

“What? Why, Norman?”, Jefferson asks, unsure as to why Norman would threaten him in such a way. It isn't his fault that visits are cancelled. That was the work of the three crafty ladies. “I haven't done anything to you.”

“I'm not talking to you,” Norman snaps.

“Oh… Oh!” It all suddenly dawns on Jefferson that he's talking to one he calls Papa. “You're having a private family conversation. I'll… I'll just stay out of it.”

The room falls silent. The only sound is Norman's heavy breathing. He stares at the wall, transitioning into the state where he's two men at once.

“I'm sorry, son,” Robert Gold surfaces and apologizes to Norman. “I didn't think of the outcome.” He turns his body towards the pillows at the head of the bed. Facing this direction as if Norman is sitting before him. “I didn't know there would be a punishment. And that that punishment would be that you couldn't see your family.”

Norman scoots to the pillows. “You n-n-never think, Papa,” he stutters. “You just d-d-do things and never think about th-th-those you hurt.”

Robert sits back in his place on the bed. “I didn't mean to hurt anyone. Especially you, Norman.” He only wanted a moment where he didn't have to think about the secret he must tell Norman. It weighs heavier on his heart than it ever has. “You're the last person I want to hurt again.”

“So why d-d-did you do it?” Norman asks, scooting several inches to the left. “You know th-th-that this place has rules. There are con-consequences to breaking those rules. We talked about this, Papa.”

“I know that, laddie. It was the only real conversation we had since being here.”

“I d-d-don't want to be here anymore than you do, b-b-but we won't get out if we act like this.”

“You're right,” Robert sighs, closing his eyes and lowering his head. “You're absolutely right,” he nods, gripping tightly to the shaft of the cane. “I'm sorry that I jeopardized the visit with your wife.” Gazes up at the empty space on the bed.

“It wasn't just m-m-my visit,” Norman says. “It was our visit. We were both g-g-going to see her and now we can't.”

Robert rest the cane on his lap and wipes the sweat from his palms onto his legs. Unsure if Norman is starting to accept his relationship with Belle. Norman openly said that they were both going to see her. He's never before said anything to indicate all three of them together.

“You're okay with Belle coming to see me?”, Robert inquires.

“No,” Norman answers, sharp, dropping the cane on the floor. “But…”, says softly. “But I think I m-m-might get there. Someday.” He gives an undecided shrug.

At the moment, Norman still isn't sure if he can sincerely welcome this intimacy between Robert and Belle. Robert's actions has made him take a step away from acceptance. He believes he can get there, and all for Belle’s sake, but each step he takes is more difficult than the last.

“We have to workout everything between us for all of this to work,” Norman states clearly.

He knows that Robert already knows about his choice of coexistence as a solution to their illness. He doesn't see a reason to explain it to him. They both understand that their lives must change.  

“And splitting our time between Belle is one of them.” Norman pauses for a instant and takes a deep breath. Preparing himself to say something he's hoping he will not regret. “I won't..." The words are on his tongue, but they will not spill out. He has to force it. "I w-w-won't try to st-stop you from seeing her.”

Robert stares at the door, taking in the selfless words Norman has said. He can feel how much it pains his son to have spoken them.

“Why not?”, Robert asks, seeking to understand Norman’s decision.

“Because she c-c-cares about you and I can't stop that. I'm only doing this for her, b-b-but that doesn't mean I have to like it.”

“Okay, Norman, I can live with that.”

“You're g-g-going to have to.”

Robert picks the cane up from the floor, rises to his feet and limps to the door. He thinks, since their both being open and honest to each other, that this might be the best time to divulge his feeling for Belle.

“I care about her too,” he reveals, turning back to the bed, never regretting a single word.

Norman’s heart stops. He feels as if it has fallen out of his chest and he's holding it in his hands. He lowers his head, slumping his shoulders forward. This was the last thing he needed. “I d-d-don't want to hear it, Papa,” he mumbles in anguish.

Robert looks up, taking a step towards the bed. “But I wanted you to finally know,” he says sincerely. “I want it to be out between us.” He doesn't want to hide his feeling for Belle, from him, any longer.

“Would you shut up!”, Norman snaps in a jealous fit.

The revelation of Robert's true feelings for his wife is too much for Norman to bare. Something he secretly hoped would fade, is developing into something more right before his eyes. Being away from Belle and locked in this place, isn't allowing Norman to process this.

“Alright.” Robert takes a step back. “I can see you're not ready.”

“No, I'm not,” he barks. “I just… I j-j-just need m-m-more time.”

Norman’s reluctance to accept Robert and Belle’s relationship is an emotion Robert can fully understand. He's been in that same place, when Norman met Belle, and he knows that Norman is going to need all the time he can take.

Robert can see the steps Norman has taken forward and he's hoping that it won't take as long for Norman, as it did for himself, to accept this unusual relationship. Robert believes that Norman is a lot stronger than he ever was in this situation.

Under all of Norman’s envy, he isn't filled with a volcanic fury to keep Robert away from his wife. But instead with an openness to understanding. He’s desperately trying to show that there is a conceivable future where they're all together, without the resentment between them.

“I just want to promise you that I'll never do anything like last night again.” Robert speaks from the deepest depths of his heart. “I hope you can find a way to forgive me.”

“I will try.”

“That's all I ask, son.” Robert limps to the bed, leans the cane against the nightstand and lays down on his back.

It wasn't the most pleasant conversation for Norman and Robert to have together. But they were able to clear some ground.

“Wow,” Jefferson chimes in. He's been watching the entire scene with baited breath. “That was the most intense thing I've ever seen.” He never imagined how deep the relationship between Norman and Robert truly ran.

A siren suddenly sounds across the hospital and all the patients doors automatically unlock.

“The white rabbit’s portal has opened,” Jefferson whispers to himself and jumps out of his bed, shuffling to the unlocked door. He then steps out for his first taste of freedom. “The white rabbit’s portal has opened!”, he howls and dashes down the hall.

Norman and Robert remain lying in their bed.

##  **\-----**

With the flow of the serial tourist flocking to the motel fading, Belle’s maintenance of the rooms has slowed down dramatically. She's able to close the motel on Monday so that she can attend her appointment with Dr. Hopper.  

Belle stands in the hall of Dr. Hopper’s apartment, holding Baelee on her hip. She takes a deep breath, mentally preparing herself for her first private therapy session.

She’s seen the good doctor on and off for the past seven years, but none of those sessions were for her. She truly doesn't know what to expect of this.

Belle gains the strength to knock on the door and takes a step back to wait for an answer.

“Mrs. Gold.” Dr. Hopper opens the door with a friendly smile. “Please, come in.”

“Thank you.” She holds the baby close and glides inside.

“I hope you don't mind that I asked you to meet me at home,” the doctor says, closing the heavy wood door. “I thought it would be more comfortable for you and the baby to be here instead of my office.”

“No, I don't mind.” She steps towards the dark brown leather couch. “Thank you for being so considerate of us. I don't have anyone to keep an eye on the baby.”

“I understand,” he beams a reassuring grin. “If you don't mind sitting by Pongo, you're welcomed to have a set on the couch.”

“Oh… No…”, she chuckles nervously. “We don't mind sitting next to Pongo, do we Bae.” She kisses Baelee's cheek and takes a seat next to the black and white spotted pooch, resting the baby bag on the floor and the child on her lap.

“Can I get anything for you or little Baelee?”

“I'm fine, thank you, and I brought everything for Bae in case she needs anything.”

“Very well.” The doctor sits at his armchair, folding his hands together. “If you are anxious about anything, I want you to know that everything you say, stays right here.”

“I know. You've been nothing but good to Norman and I wouldn't go to any other doctor. I trust you.”

“Thank you, Belle. That really means a lot.” He straightens his glasses and scoots back in the chair. “How is Norman doing, by the way?”

“Umm… Well…”. She licks her dry lips. “He's doing good. He's showing a lot of strength, very determined to get home.”

“It sounds like he's on a good path.”

“I believe he is.”

“I might have to stop by and see him soon.” Hopper picks up the black leather notebook from the coffee table.

“I think he’d like that.”

He opens the book, filled with a list of question for Belle, and rest it on his lap. Giving Belle his undivided attention. “How have you been feeling?”

She hesitates to answer and buries her nose in Baelee's soft curls as a distraction. “I've been in a better time in my life,” she answers, eventually.

“When was the last time you were truly felt happy?”

“I don't remember.” She shifts in her seat. “There's been so much happening that I haven't had time to be happy.”

Though Belle is happy being a mother, there's always a pull, from the things she done, dragging her down. Making her feel as though she can't be content in life.

“You can't think of anything?”, the doctor asks. “Not one moment when the world felt like its stopped and you could live in that instant forever?”

Belle peeks over at Pongo and scratched him behind the ear. It's comforting to have him beside her.

“There was one moment recently.” She glances up at the doctor. “Norman and I spent the night before he checked himself into the hospital, coloring in Bae’s books. We didn't talk about anything of importance that night. We just enjoyed each other's company and colored. It was a very innocent moment.”

“I knew you could find something that made you happy.” He smiles and scribbles down a few words in his book. “You said you think that Norman is on a good path. Do you feel like you're on a good path as well?”

“Yes, I think coming here is a start on that path.”

“Very good.” He write more down in the book. “Tell me, Belle, what prompt you to seek therapy?”

She rest Baelee down on the floor to play with the baby bag and practice her standing. “I think it might be the heavy guilt weighing me down.”

“Do you know what's causing this guilt?”

“Yes. Part of it is from Norman being in the hospital. I feel like I'm the reason he's there.

“And the other part?”, he asks.

She gazes down at the baby girl, thinking of the night she saved her from Cora. Belle has never properly grieved over what she did, she had to hide it, and she still does. She can't confess what she's has done to the doctor. She'd surely find a new home behind bars.

“I rather not say.”

“It's alright, Belle. I won't force anything out of you.” He strokes a line through a few passages in his notebook. “You said you feel like you're the reason Norman is in the hospital. Why do you feel that way?”

“Because I couldn't help him. I was supposed to be the one to help him, but I only made things worse.”  

“That's the reason why you stayed in Storybrooke seven years ago. You wanted to help Norman and now you feel like you've failed him?”

“I didn't only fail him, I hurt him,” she confesses. “I lied to him, I betrayed his trust, and I broke his heart.”

“Broken hearts can be mended.” Dr. Hopper insists. “Norman is a strong man and he loves you very much. I've spent hours talking to him, getting to know him. And I can assure you, Belle, he will find a way to forgive you.”

“He's told me he's already started to.”

“That's good. It means you have a future with him.” Hopper rests the notebook on the table and decides to switch the conversation to focus on her past. “Tell me, Belle.” He crossed his right leg over the left. “Do you have any idea as to where you would be now, had you not stayed with Norman?”

She thinks about that long road trip she was on seven years ago, the trip where she stumbled into Stroybrooke. Belle had no true destination at that time in her life. She was only happy to be free and out on her own.

“I don't know where I would have gone,” she answers honestly. “Or where I was actually headed then.”

“I remember how you met Norman. Unusual story.”

“Yes,” she nods and moves the baby's hand away from Dr. Hopper’s book. “It isn't your normal romantic meeting.”

“You're a very strong woman to stay after seeing how he was. So fragmented. Most people would have left.”

“I suppose I am. He was sick. He was in the darkest days of his life then. I couldn't leave him alone, not after being alone for so long.”

“Did you feel alone too?”

She takes in a deep breath. “Yes,” breathes out.

“Norman’s loneliness was from abandonment, neglect, and physical abuse. What caused your loneliness, Belle?”

“Being trapped.”

“What was trapping you?”

Belle tells the doctor about how her past has some similarities to Norman's.

Though she was never physically abused by her father, his over-protection of her, constricted her. She knew she could never be happy with a man that felt he could sculpt every aspect of her life. Everyday, working at her family's flower shop in that small Australian town much like Storybrooke, made her feel empty inside. She wanted to make her own choices and live wherever she chose fit to live. So over the course of three years, she saved enough money to move out of the country. Breaking the chains to her freedom and leaving that life behind. She never felt like it was her own.

“Have you spoken to your father since leaving?”, Dr. Hopper asks.

“No and I'd like to keep it that way.”

If her father is still the same man he was seven years ago, he would never approve or try to understand her life choices.

Dr. Hopper nods and picks up his book, jotting down several more notes.  

Belle takes a few toys out of the baby bag for Baelee and sits her down on the floor to focus her attention on the toys, not the doctors things on the coffee table.

Hopper looks up at Belle and shifts the conversation of their session again. This time, towards her feelings for Robert Gold.

“I'd like to talk about Robert. If you don't mind.”

“What about him?”

“You didn't have a positive relationship with him in the beginning,” Dr. Hopper states.

Robert didn't need or want to have a relationship with anyone at that time, except with Norman. His only propriety was protecting his son from anyone that would hurt him. After everything Norman lived through and what he did to Malcolm, Robert never wanted him to have to go through that again.

Though his methods of protecting Norman were extreme, he didn't know any other way of doing it. All Robert had to go by, for raising a son, was what he also lived through with Malcolm.

The life in that manor was the only life Robert and Norman ever knew.

“When did things between you and Robert start to change?”, he asks.

“There's a lot of things you don't know, doctor.”

Belle believes the night she killed Cora was one of the turning point in their relationship. He protected her that night, making sure no one would ever find out what she did. Though it was dark and morbid, they did make a connection. One that she does not currently share with Norman. The macabre things that she has had to do, like the removal of Malcolm’s remains, can only be shared with Robert, at this point in their lives.

“It's alright, Belle,” the doctor assures her. “Only tell me what you feel comfortable revealing. We don't have to go through your whole life in one, one hour, session.”

“Okay… Well, I’d like to say things started to change when he saved us from the Mendel's…”, she pauses, hesitant to go on. She's never revealed the words that are sitting on her tongue to anyone.

“But...”, the doctor encourages her to continue. He knows she's wants to say what on her mind.

“But… I don't think it did,” she finally admits. “Around the time we met Neal, there was a bit of time Robert and I spent together.”

Belle is revealing the time she and Robert made a deal together for him to be out freely, without Norman's knowledge.

She brushes the winkle out of her shirt, nervous reaction. “Norman didn't know about it then.”

“Does he know now?”

“Yes, he knows that Robert was out at that time, but he doesn't know about this.” She folds her hands, keeping them from fidgeting.

“And what’s that?”

“While Robert was out, I did start to admire him, physically. He looks like Norman and I'm highly attracted to my husband. He's the most beautiful man I've ever seen. So when Robert was around, I'd look.”

She'd hide her curious glances toward him, and sometime, behind her anger at him. She never wanted Robert to know that she was, naturally, physically attracted to him.

“He carries himself differently than Norman,” Belle goes on to say. “I've never seen Norman’s body ooze that level of confidence. It fascinated me how he physically appeared to be a different person and I was taken by it.”

“Do you want Norman to carry himself like Robert?”

“No. I would never ask Norman to change who he is. I love his shy awkwardness. He's the sweetest person I've ever known and I would never change that,” she says boldly. “Norman shows confidence as well, plenty of it. I've just never seen it the way Robert carries it.”

“I understand.”

Belle goes on to tell the doctor how her physical attraction morphed into something more. She discusses the night before she slept with Robert, the first time, and how she wanted to get to know him. She saw how much she's changed from the beast he once was and also learned that he was a lot more complex than just a creation from a fragmented child's mind.

Dr. Hopper nods, taking in every aspect of her story. Drawn in by every deep rooted word. He asks her a question that may be difficult for her to answer. “Do you have intense feelings for Robert?”

Belle shifts, sitting back in the couch. She wasn't anticipating him to use that world. Intense.

“Umm…”. She nibbles on her bottom lip, slowly raking her fingers through Pongo's short fur. “Yes,” she answers softly.

“Do those feeling run as deep as the ones you feel for Norman?”

Her heart hammers in her narrow chest. “I think so.”

“Do you love him?”

“Yes…”, she admits for the first time. “Do you think that's wrong?”

“No,” he assures with his honesty. “For a person in your situation, this was probably bound to happen. You live with a man that has two personalities and they appear to be polar opposites of each other. Up until now, you've only loved half of that man and half of him has loved you. Now that you love Robert as well as Norman, you love that man, with two personalities, as a whole. And he, as a whole, loves you in return.”

Tears suddenly stream down Belle’s eyes and she picks up the baby, holding her tightly against her chest. “Hearing that,” she wipes her tears. “Made me feel so much better. I feel lighter.”

“That's very good, Belle. I believe you were also feeling guilt from your feeling towards Robert.” He offers her a tissue.

“I was.” She gently takes the tissue and dries her eyes. “He tells me how much he loves me, all the time. He's so beautiful when he says it. You can tell he's never truly loved anyone else the way he loves me. But I never say it back to him. I told him that I couldn't love him the way I wanted to until we can all live together without everything turning to shit. But that was a lie because I love him right now.”

“I don't think is was a lie. You're just not ready to tell him and that's understandable. You just need a little more time.”

“Yes, I do.” She cradles the baby in her arms, as the doctor scrawls down more notes in the book.

Belle was skeptical of therapy at first and didn't know if taking this chance was the right thing to do. But after speaking to Dr. Hopper, she knows therapy is the best decision she's made in a long time.  

Belle now feels light, refreshed, and free.

“Doctor?”, she says, picking up Baelee's toys from the floor.

“Yes, Belle?”

“Do you mind if I ask what you’re writing?”

“No, I don't mind.” He rests the book open faced on the table.  “I just wrote, _she is not as broken as she thinks she is_.”

##  **\-----**

Belle arrives on the motel property, returning from her session with Dr. Hopper. She pulls the yellow Volkswagen Bug next to another car parked in front of the motel office.

She left the no vacancy sign on before going out for her therapy session. She never anticipated coming home to a customer waiting for her return.

Belle steps out of the Bug and promptly removes Baelee from her car seat.

The blond driver of the late model, dark green Chrysler, steps out from her vehicle.

“We’re closed,” Belle says, closing the door of the Bug.

She stares at the woman, something about her appearance seems familiar to Belle. Where has she seen this face before?

“Yes, I know,” the blond lady answers. “And I told my boyfriend not to go anywhere in case something like this happened. But men,” she shrugs. “They don't listen.”

“Where is your boyfriend?” Belle turns, searches her surrounding for the woman's male acquaintance, but she doesn't see him around. “This may be a motel.” She leers back at the woman, holding Baelee close against her chest, ready to protect her if needed. “But this is private property and we’re closed.”

“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to alarm you. I should have just introduced myself.” She steps closer to Belle’s car, extending her hand over the hood. “I'm Emma Swan.”

“Emma Swan…”, she says with relief, placing her right hand over her heart. It was thumping rapidly against her chest. She thought this situation would be turning for the worst. “Your Neal's girlfriend.” She walks around the car and warmly shakes Emma's hand.

Belle still can't pinpoint why Emma looks familiar. Neal has never shown a picture of her.

“Yeah,” Emma says with a kind smile. “He drug us up to Maine to meet his fathers.”

“His fathers?” Belle blinks, dismayed by the fact that she knows about Neal actually having two. “He told you about both of them?”

“Yes. You seem surprised.”

“I am.”

“You don't have to be surprised. We have an understanding of everything. Neal can't help who his father is and he wanted to be a part of his life. Ill, or not.”

“That's very reassuring,” Belle comments, still amazed by this woman's understanding.

“I’m happy you find it so.”

Belle looks around again and doesn't see Neal anywhere on the premises. “Where is he?”

“He went up to the house. He said someone is always there even if the motel is closed. So he went up to knock on the door. Your place is so huge, I don't think he thought anyone could hear him. So that may be why he walked around the back. He went around there just before you pulled up.”

“Oh…” Belle glances back up to the house and Neal is making his way back to the motel. “There he is.

“Yep,” Emma says, waving up to Neal.

“Well, Norman… and Robert… aren't here right now, but you two are welcomed to join me up at the house. We have a lot to talk about.”

“I can imagine we do,” Emma chuckles. “I just have to wake up the kid and we’ll meet you up at the house.”

“You brought your son?”

“Yea, told ya he drug us all up to Maine,” she says jokingly, crossing her arms.

“I can see that now,” Belle replies with a smile. “Well, I need to get this little stinker up to the house. I'll see you in a minute?”  

“You will.” She nods.

Belle removes Baelee’s diaper bag from the car, then rushes to the house, meeting up with Neal. “You don't know happy I am to see you again,” she says in passing.

“I promised I would be back.”

Belle stops and faces him. “Thank you for coming back,” she fights off tears.

“Hey,” he says softly, stepping closer to her. “Are you okay?”

She clears her throat. “We’ll talk about it in the house.”

“Alright,” he nods.

“Right now, I really need to get inside. Diaper emergency.”

“I completely understand.”

Belle walks backward a few paces. “Don't you just miss these days.”

“Sometimes,” he guffaws at his reply.

She grins, content with not having to be in the house alone, and makes her way up to the manor.


End file.
